Short-term memory and vocabulary development in children with Down syndrome and children with specific language impairment

A longitudinal comparison was made between development of verbal and visuo-spatial short-term memory and vocabulary in children with Down syndrome (DS), children with specific language impairment (SLI), and typically developing children as a control group. Participants were 12 children with DS (6 males, 6 females; mean chronological age 9y 9mo [SD 2.8 mo], range 8y 6mo to 11y 4mo); nine children with SLI (4 males, 5 females; mean chronological age 3y 9mo [SD 4.8mo], range 3y 3mo to 4y 5mo); and 12 typically developing children (5 males, 7 females; mean chronological age 4y 4mo [SD 3.9mo], range 3y 3mo to 4y 3mo). Participants were matched on mental age (mean mental age 4y 3mo). All participants completed verbal short-term memory, visuo-spatial short-term memory, and expressive and receptive vocabulary tasks on three occasions over 1 year. Similarities were seen in the clinical groups for verbal short-term memory. There was some evidence of difficulty in visuo-spatial short-term memory in the children with SLI relative to the other groups, but all three groups showed overlap in visuo-spatial short-term memory performance. At the final time-point vocabulary performance in the clinical groups was similar; the typically developing children showed higher vocabulary abilities than both clinical groups

Cognitive abilities in children with specific language impairment: consideration of visuo-spatial skills

Background: The study is concerned with the cognitive abilities of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Previous research has indicated that children with SLI demonstrate difficulties with certain cognitive tasks despite normal non‐verbal IQ scores. It has been suggested that a general processing limitation might account for the pattern of language and cognitive difficulties seen in children with SLI. The performances on a visuo‐spatial short‐term memory task and a visuo‐spatial processing task were considered in a group of young children with SLI. Verbal short‐term memory was also measured. Aims: To identify whether children with SLI demonstrate difficulties with visuo‐spatial memory as well as verbal short‐term memory. To see whether a visuo‐spatial processing task without short‐term memory requirements is problematic for children with SLI. To consider performance on these tasks over time. Methods & Procedures: Nine children with SLI (mean age 3;9 years at the study outset) and nine typically developing children (mean age 3;9 years at the study outset) were visited on three occasions over 1 year. Verbal short‐term memory, visuo‐spatial short‐term memory and visuo‐spatial processing tasks were administered to the children, and performance over time was compared between the two groups. Outcomes & Results: The children with SLI performed at a lower level than the typically developing children on the verbal short‐term memory task. Both groups showed similar development on the verbal short‐term memory task and the visuo‐spatial processing task over time. Only the visuo‐spatial short‐term memory task showed slower development over time in the children with SLI relative to the typically developing children. Conclusions: Children with SLI demonstrated slower development on a visuo‐spatial short‐term memory task relative to typically developing children of the same chronological age. This finding has implications for speech and language therapists and other professionals working with children with SLI. It may mean that only certain types of visual support are suitable, and that children with SLI will have difficulty with tasks requiring a high level of processing, or a number of mental manipulations

Warming experiments elucidate the drivers of observed directional changes in tundra vegetation

Few studies have clearly linked long-term monitoring with insitu experiments to clarify potential drivers of observed change at a given site. This is especially necessary when findings from a site are applied to a much broader geographic area. Here, we document vegetation change at Barrow and Atqasuk, Alaska, occurring naturally and due to experimental warming over nearly two decades. An examination of plant cover, canopy height, and community indices showed more significant differences between years than due to experimental warming. However, changes with warming were more consistent than changes between years and were cumulative in many cases. Most cases of directional change observed in the control plots over time corresponded with a directional change in response to experimental warming. These included increases in canopy height and decreases in lichen cover. Experimental warming resulted in additional increases in evergreen shrub cover and decreases in diversity and bryophyte cover. This study suggests that the directional changes occurring at the sites are primarily due to warming and indicates that further changes are likely in the next two decades if the regional warming trend continues. These findings provide an example of the utility of coupling insitu experiments with long-term monitoring to accurately document vegetation change in response to global change and to identify the underlying mechanisms driving observed changes

Associated reading skills in children with a history of Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

A large cohort of 200 eleven-year-old children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) were assessed on basic reading accuracy and on reading comprehension as well as language tasks. Reading skills were examined descriptively and in relation to early language and literacy factors. Using stepwise regression analyses in which age and nonverbal IQ were controlled for, it was found that a single word reading measure taken at 7 years was unsurprisingly a strong predictor of the two different types of reading ability. However, even with this measure included, a receptive syntax task (TROG) entered when reading accuracy score was the DV. Furthermore, a test of expressive syntax/narrative and a receptive syntax task completed at 7 years entered into the model for word reading accuracy. When early reading accuracy was excluded from the analyses, early phonological skills also entered as a predictor of both reading accuracy and comprehension at 11 years. The group of children with a history of SLI were then divided into those with no literacy difficulties at 11 and those with some persisting literacy impairment. Using stepwise logistic regression, and again controlling for IQ and age, 7 years receptive syntax score (but not tests of phonology, expressive vocabulary or expressive syntax/narrative) entered as a positive predictor of membership of the ‘no literacy problems’ group regardless of whether early reading accuracy was controlled for in step one. The findings are discussed in relation to the overlap of SLI and dyslexia and the long term sequelae of language impairment

A prosodically controlled word and nonword repetition task for 2- to 4- year-olds: Evidence from typically developing children

An association has been found between nonword repetition and language skills in school-aged children with both typical and atypical language development (Dollaghan & Campbell, 1998; Ellis Weismer et al., 2000; Gathercole & Baddeley, 1990; Montgomery, 2002). This raises the possibility that younger children’s repetition performance may be predictive of later language deficits. In order to investigate this possibility, it is important to establish that elicited repetition with very young children is both feasible and informative. To this end, a repetition task was designed and carried out with 66 children aged 2-4. The task consisted of 18 words and 18 matched nonwords that were systematically manipulated for length and prosodic structure. In addition, an assessment of receptive vocabulary was administered. The repetition task elicited high levels of response. Total scores as well as word and nonword scores were sensitive to age. Lexical status and item length affected performance regardless of age: words were repeated more accurately than nonwords, and one-syllable items were repeated more accurately than two-syllable items, which were in turn repeated more accurately than three-syllable items. The effect of prosodic structure was also significant. Whole syllable errors were almost exclusive to unstressed syllables, with those preceding stress being most vulnerable. Performance on the repetition task was significantly correlated with performance on the receptive vocabulary test. Since this repetition task was effective in eliciting responses from most of the 2 to 4-year-old participants, tapped developmental change in their repetition skills, and revealed patterns in their performance, it has the potential to identify deficits in very early repetition skills that may be indicative of wider language difficulties

Misty, Spellbound and the lost Gothic of British girls’ comics.

This article is a case study of the 1970s British girls’ comics Spellbound (DC Thomson, 1976–1977) and Misty (IPC, 1978–1980). These mystery anthology comics followed the more famous American horror comics from publishers like EC Comics - but were aimed at pre-teen girls. The article situates these comics with respect to Gothic critical theory and within the wider landscape of British girls’ comics. Firstly, it closely considers and compares the structure and content of their stories with respect to theories of the terror and horror Gothic. It discovers that both comics offer similar fare, with a subversive streak that undercuts established horror archetypes. The article then looks closely at both titles’ aesthetics and their use of the page to draw comparisons. It uses comics theory and Gothic cinematic theory to demonstrate that the appearance of Misty is more strongly Gothic than the aesthetic of Spellbound. Finally, it considers a selection of stories from both comics and analyses their common themes using Gothic critical theory. It argues that both comics rework Gothic themes into new forms that are relevant to their pre-teen and teenage readers. It concludes by summarising the study’s findings and suggesting that these comics offer a “Gothic for Girls” that is part cautionary tale and part bildungsroman. This article is published as part of a collection on Gothic and horror

The preschool repetition test: An evaluation of performance in typically developing and clinically referred children

Purpose: To determine the psychometric properties of the Preschool Repetition Test (Roy & Chiat, 2004); to establish the range of performance in typically developing children and variables affecting this; and to compare the performance of clinically referred children. Method: The PSRep Test comprises 18 words and 18 phonologically matched nonwords systematically varied for length and prosodic structure. This test was administered to a ‘typical’ sample of children aged 2;0–4;0 (n=315) and a ‘clinic’ sample of children aged 2;6-4;0 (n=168), together with language assessments. Results: Performance in the typical sample was independent of gender and SES, but was affected by age, item length, and prosodic structure, and was moderately correlated with receptive vocabulary. Performance in the clinic sample was significantly poorer, but revealed similar effects of length and prosody, and similar relations to language measures overall, with some notable exceptions. Test-retest and interrater reliability were high. Conclusions: The PSRep Test is a viable and informative test. It differentiates within and between ‘typical’ and ‘clinic’ samples of children, and reveals some unusual profiles within the clinic sample. These findings lay the foundations for a follow-up study of the clinic sample to investigate the predictive value of the test

High potential for weathering and climate effects of non-vascular vegetation in the Late Ordovician

It has been hypothesized that predecessors of today’s bryophytes significantly increased global chemical weathering in the Late Ordovician, thus reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration and contributing to climate cooling and an interval of glaciations. Studies that try to quantify the enhancement of weathering by non-vascular vegetation, however, are usually limited to small areas and low numbers of species, which hampers extrapolating to the global scale and to past climatic conditions. Here we present a spatially explicit modelling approach to simulate global weathering by non-vascular vegetation in the Late Ordovician. We estimate a potential global weathering flux of 2.8 (km3 rock) yr−1, defined here as volume of primary minerals affected by chemical transformation. This is around three times larger than today’s global chemical weathering flux. Moreover, we find that simulated weathering is highly sensitive to atmospheric CO2 concentration. This implies a strong negative feedback between weathering by non-vascular vegetation and Ordovician climate

“Cycles upon cycles, stories upon stories” : contemporary audio media and podcast horror’s new frights

During the last ten years the ever-fertile horror and Gothic genres have birthed a new type of fright-fiction: podcast horror. Podcast horror is a narrative horror form based in audio media and the properties of sound. Despite association with oral ghost tales, radio drama, and movie and TV soundscapes, podcast horror remains academically overlooked. Podcasts offer fertile ground for the revitalization and evolution of such extant audio-horror traditions, yet they offer innovation too. Characterized by their pre-recorded nature, individualized listening times and formats, often “amateur” or non-corporate production, and isolation from an ongoing media stream more typical of radio or TV, podcasts potentialize the instigation of newer audio-horror methods and traits. Podcast horror shows vary greatly in form and content, from almost campfire-style oral tales, comprising listener-produced and performed content (Drabblecast; Tales to Terrify; NoSleep); to audio dramas reminiscent of radio’s Golden Era (Tales from Beyond the Pale; 19 Nocturne Boulevard); to dramas delivered in radio-broadcast style (Welcome to Night Vale; Ice Box Theatre); to, most recently, dramas, which are themselves acknowledging and exploratory of the podcast form (TANIS; The Black Tapes Podcast; Lime Town). Yet within this broad spectrum, sympathies and conventions arise which often not only explore and expand notions of Gothic sound, but which challenge broader existing horror and Gothic genre norms. This article thus demonstrates the extent to which podcast horror uses its audio form, technology and mediation to disrupt and evolve Gothic/horror fiction, not through a cumulative chronological formulation of podcast horror but through a maintained and alternately synthesized panorama of forms. Herein new aspects of generic narration, audience, narrative and aesthetic emerge. Exploring a broad spectrum of American and British horror podcasts, this article shows horror podcasting to utilize podcasting’s novel means of horror and Gothic distribution/consumption to create fresh, unique and potent horror forms. This article reveals plot details about some of the podcasts examined